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Garden Floor Designs

The garden floor - lawn, paving, paths,even areas of gravel or ground coverplants - can make or mar your garden.These surfaces are likely to account formore area than the beds and borders.Although they recede in importancewhen the garden is in full bloom, formuch of the year they probably holdcentre stage.

Removing existing paths and pavedareas presents a practical problem.Provided these areas do notcompromise your design too much, it ismuch easier to leave as many as youcan in position. Consider paving overthe top with a more sympatheticmaterial. It should be relatively easy toextend the area if you want to.

Lawns are more easily modified thanpaths and paved areas. At worst youcan dig them up and re-sow or relaythem. If you simply want to change theshape, you can trim off surplus grass orlift and relay just part of the lawn.

There are useful alternatives to grassfor areas that are not used forrecreation or are seldom trodden on.Ground cover plants not only suppressweeds in flower beds, but can replace alawn where the surface does not haveto take the wear and tear of tramplingfeet. Inset stepping-stones to protectthe plants. Where the garden is verysmall, low-growing ground cover maybe much more practical than a lawnthat is almost too tiny to cut with a mower. Other alternatives to grass arelawns of thyme, chamomile or clover,or gravelled areas.

Timber decking is very popular insome countries, seldom used in others.Much depends on the price of timberlocally, and to some extent the climate,but decking should always be on yourlist of options.

Ground cover with plants

If you want to cover an area of groundwith a living carpet simply for texture,but you don't expect to walk on thearea, suitable ground cover plants arethe answer.

To use ground cover plants like this,rather than simply as a means tosuppress weeds in a flower bed, theymust be evergreen, compact, and growto a low, even height. Some of the bestplants for the job are Armeria maritima,bergenias, Cotoneaster dammeri,Euonymus fortunei varieties, Hypericumcalycinum, and Pachysandra terminalis.

If you want a pretty spread of flowersas the main feature, heathers are anexcellent choice.

Lawns

The lawn is often the centrepiece of agarden, the canvas against which therest of the garden is painted. For manygardeners this makes it worth all themowing, feeding and grooming that agood lawn demands.

If your lawn has to serve as a playarea too, be realistic and sow toughgrasses, and setae for a hard-wearinglawn rather than a showpiece. It canstill look green and lush - the important consideration from a designviewpoint. Instead of aiming for ahowling-green finish, the shape of thelawn or a striking edging could be itsstrong visual message.

Circular lawns must he edged properly.Nothing looks worse than a circle thatisn't circular, and of course constanttrimming back will eat into the lawnover the years. To avoid this,incorporate a firm edging, such asbricks placed on end and mortared intoposition, when you make the lawn.

Where the edges are straight useproprietary lawn edging strips.

Naturalizing bulbs in grassNaturalizing spring-flowering bulbs in alawn of any size gives you thejustification for leaving the grass uncutuntil late spring or early summer, whenthe leaves have died down. Choosebulbs that will multiply and flowerfreely, such as crocuses, daffodils,snowdrops, small fritillaries, and winteraconites. There are many differentkinds of crocuses and daffodils, so you'llhave plenty of choice even if you limityourself to these particularly reliablebulbs and corms.

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